Monday, April 13, 2009

According to the USDA a person consuming 2000 calories a day should be eating 4 1/2 cups or 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Four servings should be fruit-that's 2 cups, and five servings should be vegetables-that's 2 1/2 cups. A serving equals 1/2 cup of raw or cooked fruit or vegetables, 1 cup of raw leafy veggies like spinach or romaine, or 1 medium fruit like an apple or a banana. The veggies should consist of a variety of dark green, orange, starchy, and other veggies, as well as legumes.According to the CDC, less than 25% of people eat five servings a day. No wonder we are a nation of sick and obese people, most of us are nutrient deprived. If you eat a fruit and a vegetable at every meal, and then have a few as snacks, 9 servings is not hard to accomplish. After all, fruit and veggies are nature's fast food. A banana or clementine only need peeling, it doesn't get any faster than that. Here is a recipe for a simple nutrient dense fruit salad to keep on hand for snacking. I like the crispness of apple mixed in with the berries, and the lemon juice keeps the apple from turning brown.

Fruit Salad

1 pt. blueberries

1 pt. blackberries

1 pt. strawberries

1 organic apple, diced

juice of 1 lemon

1 T. honey

Combine lemon juice with apple, mix to ensure apple is completely coated. Stir in honey, then mix in rest of fruit.

2
comments:

That looks so delicious, healthy and quick. Have you seen Gel's Kitchen No Time To Cook? The feature this month is desserts using fresh fruits and I think your post would be perfect. The deadline for submission is April 25. Check it out here:http://www.gelskitchen.com/blog/food-recipe-talk/butter-bean-spinach-salad-nttc-1-march-2009-roundup/

Contributors

A quick note

All photos, and writing on this blog are copyright protected. If you use any of my material for noncommercial use, you must give credit to meatlessmama and link to this blog. No use for commercial purposes without my permission.